Musk's Request to Move Securities-Fraud Trial Out of San Francisco Denied

Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk's Request To Have His Upcoming Securities Fraud Trial Moved Out Of San Francisco Was Rejected By a Judge. The Judge Overruled Musk's Argument That He Faces a Biased Jury Pool in the Bay Area.

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The court's decision means that the high-stakes civil trial will move forward with jury selection next week. This is a significant development in the case, and it will be interesting to see how the trial unfolds. Musk argued that the jury pool is biased against him, citing about 200 returned juror questionnaires showing that 82% of all the prospective panelists in the Bay Area who have an opinion of the billionaire view him negatively.

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The trial centers on Musk's tweets in 2018 about taking Tesla private. His lawyers have argued that much of the bias he faces in San Francisco is due to his use of social media, and his honesty on it. They have emphasized that his reputation in the city has been damaged by negative reporting about his make-over of Twitter Inc.
US District Judge Edward Chen said during a hearing on Friday that he is confident an impartial jury can be chosen for the upcoming trial of Elizabeth Holmes. He mentioned how a fellow judge in a nearby courthouse was able to assemble an "unbiased" jury for the criminal trial of Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes.

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"The proof is in the pudding," Chen said. While Musk's lawyers pointed to the negative responses in the questionnaires, Chen noted that "Mr. Musk does have a lot of fans out there." Some questionnaire responses were neutral and others were mixed, while some potential jurors were not enthusiastic about how the president is using Twitter, Chen said.

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Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Musk, argued that amid all the media controversy around Musk, a fair trial in this district would be impossible.
Spiro added that the media reports are character assassinations. He said that the "flavor and tenor" of the "character reporting" is about a "human being who is making firing decisions" at Twitter. He said that "it doesn't dissipate through evidence" presented at trial.

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Musk's lawyers have suggested that the trial could be transferred to Texas, where Musk moved Tesla's headquarters to Austin about a year ago.
According to Tim Crudo, a securities and criminal defense lawyer, it is rare for cases, especially civil lawsuits, to be transferred to another district due to pretrial publicity. He stated that, in order to have a case transferred, one would need to show that the jury pool is so tainted that a fair trial cannot be conducted.

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Investors allege that Elon Musk's August 2018 tweets about taking Tesla private with "funding secured" were false and cost them billions of dollars by artificially inflating Tesla's stock price. Musk has maintained that Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund had agreed to support his attempt to take Tesla private, but investors say there is no evidence to support this claim.

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Musk's request to change the trial's location produced a heated exchange between lawyers for Musk and attorneys representing the investors. The shareholders said in a court filing that none of the would-be jurors work for Twitter, and only two or three prospective panelists know someone employed by the company.

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"There is no potential for bias arising out of Musk's management of Twitter," they said. In another court filing, they said Musk attracts negative attention everywhere, including Texas. They pointed to a story last month in the Austin Chronicle listing Musk as the No. 1 "worst resident" of Austin. Chen rejected the idea of transferring the case to Austin, saying that the city has no connection to the case.